8 Missouri schools among best public colleges in America

University of Missouri-Columbia is the highest-ranked college in Missouri at No. 45, according a recent ranking of the top 250 public colleges in America by an affiliated publication, Buffalo Business First.

Truman State University followed close behind at No. 49.

Business First analyzed 477 four-year public colleges, using the latest data available from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. College rankings recently issued by three national publications–-Forbes, Kiplinger’s and U.S. News and World Report–-were also taken into account.

A 20-part formula was created to identify the public universities and colleges that offer the best educational experiences to their students. Schools were judged on seven factors: Selectivity, advancement, prestige, resources, costs, diversity and community.

Data was based on the latest available statistics, generally from 2014 unless noted otherwise, and therefore taken before the recent unrest at Mizzou. The university lost about $2 million in donations following unrest on the campus last fall due to incidents of alleged racism on campus, and expects enrollment to fall in the fall of 2016 .

Six other public universities in Missouri made the list: University of Missouri-Kansas City ranked 107th; Missouri University of Science and Technology was 113th; University of Missouri-St. Louis landed at No. 123; Northwest Missouri State University was 230th; Missouri State University followed at No. 231; and Southeast Missouri State University was 238th.

Mizzou’s rank was the same at 45th in 2015. University of North Carolina was the top public college in the nation, followed closely by the University of Michigan.